Appily ever after? Not likely for the Irish

October 26, 2016

Appily ever after? The Irish spend more time making a cuppa than choosing a potential life partner online

· The Irish spend an average of 1 minute and 39 seconds before connecting with a potential partner · Two in five say they have been on a date with someone who was posing as single · The Irish are most likely to lie about their age (17%) or weight (12%) · Talking about your ex tops list of unforgivable sins while sending sexy snaps comes a close second

A new study from dating app TrueView has revealed that the Irish spend on average 1 minute and 39 seconds connecting with potential life partners while online dating – almost a minute less than it takes them to make a cup of tea. People also take more time making a sandwich (2m55s) or choosing what to watch on TV (4m4s).

The research sheds a light on today’s online dating scene, revealing its murky side. A fifth (22%) of respondents actually admitted to spending 10 seconds or less to connect with a potential partner, and nearly two in five (39%) respondents admitted to lying on their dating profiles. The Irish are most likely to lie about their age (17%) or weight (12%).

In line with this, one third (34%) of the Irish have been on a date with someone who was older than they said they were, and two in five (41%) have been on a date with someone pretending to be single; a sure sign that it’s harder than ever to trust online dating.

If you do find love online, don’t even think about talking about an ex, which is deemed unforgivable by 56% of respondents. Also on the list of unforgivable sins is sending an explicit picture (39%), getting your name wrong (37%) and cheesy chat-up lines (32%).

The research follows the launch of a satirical new video from TrueView, which pokes fun at dating apps, seeing the star of The BBC’s award-winning comedy series The Revolution Will Be Televised’s Jolyon Rubinstein take to the streets to ask strangers for distorted online interactions, or a couple of months’ of cryptic text messaging, mocking the difference between online and offline behaviour.

Watch the video here:

Matt Verity, co-founder of TrueView said: “People looking for love are finding themselves trudging through conversations with people who aren’t serious about dating, or worse, are lying.

“This is a huge issue across a number of today’s dating apps. While some may claim to be about finding real relationships, none of them actually protect people from fake profiles, or make any effort to weed out those wanting to use online dating for the wrong reasons. Others make a statement about replacing the infamous ‘swipe’ with likes and comments, or fluff like being able to super-like to show someone you’re ‘really keen’. This is barely addressing the problem; getting rid of the ‘swipe’ is just the start with improving the online dating app experience.

“That’s why we are doing so much more; we have integrated Jumio, the verification system used by easyjet and AirBnB to ensure that the TrueView platform is safe from poseurs and frauds.

Daters will also be able to feedback on members using the industry first trust score and community rating system, meaning that members’ own behaviour – like sending unwanted naked pictures – dictates their level of success.”